Yeah I had someone give me a sob story about how her husband didn't want to take group lessons and they were on a fixed income because he was looking to retire in a year and she was still working. Meanwhile, I was working two jobs while my husband (now ex) sat on his knat at home and we were behind on all our bills and nearly lost our apartment. And then because I wasn't cheap enough for her, she asked me to refer her to someone who would be.

Cry my a river, lady. If you can't afford $50 per hour for private lessons, and your ego can't handle group lessons, maybe you don't need to learn to dance. And certainly don't ask me to send you to my competition.

Someone at work: So if dancing is your hobby, what do you do with it? Go to nightclubs every weekend?Me ---Ummmmm. Not exactly, I tried competition and perform many various showcases. Someone at work: Really? Are you that good?

Hah- people who just don't know ballroom (or horses, or ice, or you get the idea) often assume that ANYBODY who competes or performs is automatically "good", or that their goal in their dancing is to be the best and win the most- and if that isn't the case, they're somehow lacking or whatever. I don't know you or your dancing, so I'm not referring to you when I say that isn't always the case, because we've all seen people who compete regularly and win all the time... until they're in a contested event. And showcases aren't necessarily about being better or putting on a professional performance so much as people having something to work toward and getting together for a good time to put on a show while the studio makes a little something off the day. It says more about what people think they're entitled to getting out of something they do and how narrow their perceptions can be than we do in regards to what rewards we get from our respective dancing.

In this area, and considering many other things, I would consider barter for some things, but not make it a habit, and definitely not advertise it. You can't barter for car payments or light bills, after all. It's a sad fact, but it just takes money to get by, not brownies, not house cleaning, not a ton of other useless crap people try to pass off as a good deal when they're trying to get one out of you. If I were a titled professional, I definitely wouldn't unless someone threatened to harm kittens or something.

I talked with someone at a comp once for twenty minutes and it took her that long to realize I was the studio receptionist she saw at least once a week. Apparently I look THAT different in makeup with my hair done.

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Haha! The first time my dad saw me at competition, he didn't know who I was until I started talking to him

Got this one recently from some friends who have just started dipping their toes in the social swing world: "Wait, you practice without your partner????"
"...ya, I need to drill technique and play with dynamics when I don't have another person to worry about"

They're usually the same people who spend $200 a weekend on drinks at ugly, small, dirty little bars (not even fun ones with entertainment or anything) and complain on facebook all the time about how the people they're around are crap. Uh, maybe you should stop fishing in the toilet for gold, then, people.